


i know it's not much but it's the best i can do

by GoddessOfApples



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Absolutely no plot, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, War's over, codywan - Freeform, everything's good AU, its so cheesy im getting cavities, they just go to the beach and fall in love, this is just so self-indulgent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-27
Updated: 2021-01-27
Packaged: 2021-03-13 03:40:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,585
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29022099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoddessOfApples/pseuds/GoddessOfApples
Summary: The war is over and the 212th and 501st hit the beach for some well-deserved time off. And a certain general and marshal commander can't seem to stop making heart eyes at each other.
Relationships: CC-2224 | Cody/Obi-Wan Kenobi
Comments: 14
Kudos: 142





	i know it's not much but it's the best i can do

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first time I've written any kind of fanfiction since like 2015 and it shows.  
> There is no plot, I just wrote what I felt was nice in the moment so don't take this too seriously. I sure didn't.

"Technically, we knew that."

  
"Technically." Echo conceded. "But there is a difference between technically knowing something and actually-"

  
"-seeing it. Yeah, I know." Fives brushed a hand against his jaw. "Still...."

  
"I _know_."

  
The two ARC troopers stood in front of the waterline, sun beating down on their backs, eyes tracing the only pale pink figure in the sea of bare brown skin. General Kenobi was slathering copious amounts of sunscreen on his freckled arms, his pectorals and sharp abdominal muscles visibly shifting under a soft layer of fat and skin, normally hidden under layers and layers of robes. He was standing with his toes pressed in the soft warm sand of the beach, his tunics, tabards and belt lying next to him on the ground, carefully folded, the only clothes on his body the short Jedi-issue trousers. He was looking at the clone troopers swimming in the water and playing in the sand, a thoughtful expression on his face while his hands massaged the creamy substance into his skin that, judging by the slight pink blush that was already appearing on his shoulders, was prone to burn easily.

  
"I mean... I now get it why the Jedi have that dress code," Jesse muttered under his breath, joining the two troopers in their observation together with Hardcase. "They’re trying to prevent civilian casualties. But we’ve seen our General. We should have known."

  
"We _knew,"_ Fives and Echo chorused, still trying to convince themselves. "Technically," Fives added.

  
"Yeah but did you ever imagine this?" Jesse shook his head. "I wonder if the 212th has seen it before...."

  
Commander Cody’s glazed eyes when the General turned to him with the sunscreen bottle was enough of an answer to the troopers. They saw Kenobi’s mouth move; the voice was lost in the crowd but Cody’s sharp nod indicated that he agreed to whatever his General had asked him. He accepted the offered bottle, squirted some of the cream in his hand and started rubbing it on Kenobi’s shoulders after the man had turned his back to him. The Commander’s gaze was fixed on the muscles of his General’s back as he made sure to cover every inch of his naked skin with the protective sunscreen.

  
Echo snorted. "I can almost see the steam coming out of his ears."

  
"You’d be no better than him," Fives laughed. "General Kenobi is truly kriffing ripped."

  
Cody’s eyes snapped up at those words as if he had heard them, which was impossible in the loud chatter of the combined forces of the 212th and 501st. Nevertheless, his eyes found the quartet and he frowned. The corners of his mouth turned down. He knew exactly what they were talking about and he did not appreciate his General being ogled like a holo pinup model that he had found in his troops’ quarters more than once. Especially since Kenobi had been hesitant to join the _vode_ on their little beach holiday in the first place.

* * *

"I wouldn’t want to impose myself," he had said, setting down his holotablet that he had been working with before being interrupted by Cody.

  
"Sir, with all due respect," Cody interjected, "I shouldn’t have to tell you that everyone would love to have you around even during non-formal occasions but, for the sake of preventing any arguments that you may come up with, I’m just going to say that General Skywalker and the 501st have already agreed to come and it would just be rude if you didn’t join them. Especially since we all know that whatever you’re working on in that tablet can wait."

  
Obi-Wan smiled, amused. "Cody, I appreciate your enthusiasm, but work never ends in my world."

  
"Then let someone else handle it for a change," the Commander brusquely said, "sir." He relaxed his stance, placed his helmet on Obi-Wan’s cot and took a seat next to it, facing the sitting General on eye level in the small room. "The war is over. It’s only a matter of weeks until we’re disbanded. Senator Organa has been working non-stop on our inclusion in the Convention of Civilized Systems. You know this. The _vode_ know this." Cody sighed and Obi-Wan looked resigned. "Just this once, let other people handle the weight of the world and give our troops the chance to ease into the peace. Give them the chance to see you as their friend, not as their General.”

  
The Jedi absently caressed his hand down his thigh and picked up a lint on his knee, flicking it away. He frowned.

  
For three years now, the Jedi and the clone troopers had been wrung out fighting the war against the Separatists, with no end in sight. It had been exhausting, humiliating, chipping away their humanity piece by piece. The clone troopers had had no choice in the matter whatsoever, but they had pushed through, even after the massive number of casualties after every confrontation with the enemy. Obi-Wan had witnessed the countless occasions when Cody had gone through the lists with the names and the numbers of the troopers from the 212th who had passed away in the previous conflict, muttering, as if trying to imprint each of the fallen in his memory. And then he would have set the tablet aside, stretched his shoulders and proceeded. Proceeded to command and serve, without once questioning if what he was doing was right or wrong. He had eliminated that hesitation from his vocabulary because he could not afford it.  
And neither could Obi-Wan. A moment of pause in this war would have meant to fall behind the enemy when they needed to stay ahead. To stop would have meant to die, and worse... to let your troopers die. But a Jedi’s main principles were founded on rationality, not impulsiveness, on stability and patience, not haste. Love and peace, not war and hate. By fighting in the first place, the Jedi had already lost so much – they had lost their way.

  
The entirety of the GAR stood on the shoulders of the clone troopers who did not even hold the status as citizens of the Republic. The were not even considered fully-sentient beings due to the lobbying of the Kaminoan diplomats. Recognizing the clones as equals to every other citizen of the Republic would have meant that the Senate and the larger population would have had to face the insufferable losses that the GAR went through every day. They would have had to look the troopers in the eye and realized that that could have been their sibling, their spouse, their child, their parent fighting on the frontlines. Dying. And the Jedi were the ones to lead them to their deaths.

  
But the Jedi couldn’t have fought all the battles at once: the ones against the Separatists and the ones on the Senate floor. But perhaps they should have, nevertheless, thought Obi-Wan. There were only a few senators that were concerned with what the war was costing them in terms of humanity, not finances, – Bail, Padme, for example – but the deaths of the troopers did not weigh so heavily on their minds as it did on the Jedi’s. They did not feel the incessant pressure of the ongoing conflict in their safe towers of transparisteel on Coruscant, no matter how much they cared. The clones fought for everyone, but hardly anyone fought for them. Not even the Jedi could say that they did.

  
They had lost their way. They were peacekeepers, not soldiers. They had been peacekeepers... once. But maybe that time was more far behind than they had thought. The Jedi Order and the Republic were essentially inseparable; institutionally, they were tied to one another. The Republic did not have a standing military before the clone troopers and so the Jedi stood in for any greater law enforcement. As _peacekeepers._ Or so they had thought. The discontent and antagonism against the Jedi that had began to spread during the last decade was not simply a Separatist ploy – this was something that had been bubbling under the surface for awhile now.  
Obi-Wan realized now that serving as the Republic Senate’s fist did not ensure that justice was served or that people who needed help were aided. This was made blatantly clear to him during the war and the countless of miscalculations and wrong strategies that had been ordered from above. The Senate had judged and decided for the Jedi... and the Jedi grew passive in their habits of obeying. The Jedi Order’s philosophies and principles that they aimed to uphold had been moving further and further away from what they were actually doing. Even before the war. The Jedi were no longer able to decide what was right and wrong. Right and wrong was now a political decision made by committees, not a moral choice.

  
But what were the Jedi without the Senate? A group of vigilantes? How could they take the liberty to act out as they wished based on their own desires? Nobody is infallible, including the Jedi. If the very organization trusted to see to the functioning of the Republic could not be trusted to send the Jedi where needed, then who could? Obi-Wan did not know. But he knew that he wanted to decide what was right and wrong for a change. As a Jedi, his mission was to obey the greater good. But for once he wanted to be concerned with the smaller good as well. Maybe travelling the galaxy as a nomadic Jedi was not precisely what was meant for him, but he could see how it made much more sense than to stay stagnant to those who did set out on their own. To really listen to the Force and let yourself be guided by it, the way the Jedi Order could no longer afford to. Maybe it could. Or rather, maybe it _should._

  
_Perhaps it’s time we started following the will of the Force again_ , Obi-Wan thought.

  
He lifted his gaze and looked at where Cody was sitting on his cot, patiently waiting for his response. He cast his eyes over the straight form of the Commander, the polished white of his armour, the yellow of his pauldrons, his brown skin, short-cropped black hair and dark eyes. He looked at the lines on his face, the slight hairs of grey at his temples. The open expression he wore so rarely. The way his eyebrows were relaxed and not pulled together like they usually were. He let his gaze roam over the wide bridge of his nose, the curling scar that circled his eye, the slight pout of his lower lip. A sharp eyebrow slowly rose as the silence continued with Obi-Wan’s contemplation.

  
For a moment, the Jedi closed his eyes and breathed out. He let go of his anxieties and reached out with his feelings – something that he hadn’t taken the time to do for a while now for fear of being confronted with everything he had repressed, that he didn’t have the time to unpack during the war. But for now... he just let go and reached into the Force.

  
It seemed so much clearer now than it had before. Like a fog, a darkness had been lifted from it, his senses could gleam the details of the life and energy around him. And for the first time in so long, the Force made itself clear to him.

  
Obi-Wan opened his eyes and reached out, this time with his hand.

  
He wasn’t one to usually initiate physical contact but he felt it necessary in this case. His touch on Cody’s gloved hand that lay on his knee was gentle. His fingers caressed the back of the hand, the black of the glove and the yellow plate, and Cody, whose eyebrows had now climbed even higher, instinctively turned his palm up so that Obi-Wan could press his hand in his.

  
“General-“ Cody stuttered and paused at the Jedi’s exasperated look. “Obi-Wan-” ...He didn’t really know how to finish that thought. Obi-Wan just squeezed his hand in reassurance.

  
Cody could reap what he sowed. He was the first to bridge that gap from General Kenobi to Obi-Wan, just like he wanted for his _vode._ But he couldn’t deny, _this_ wasn’t exactly what he had in mind for them. Obi-Wan, however, seemed somehow more relaxed and happy than he had just a few minutes earlier.

  
“Cody-“ Obi-Wan began as well, only to stop. He contemplated what to say about his move that just some time ago would have been considered highly inappropriate fraternizing – this _handholding_ –, to eventually decide to say nothing. There was nothing he could have said really. He didn’t want to rationalize or argue right this moment, to make vows or promises he couldn’t keep. He just wanted to feel. Feel his own affection and the affection that was echoed in the Force.

  
Obi-Wan smiled, the laughter lines around his eyes suddenly making him seem so much younger. “Let’s go to the beach then.”

* * *

  
Physical touch wasn’t unknown to Cody. One of the few ways for the _vode_ to maintain their own humanity was through touch, whether it be a slap on the back, a tackle to the ground, a hug or the touch of foreheads.

  
Still... it was one thing to touch your siblings and completely another to touch... well... Obi-Wan. Naked. Creamy..... Slightly groaning...

  
_Ka’ra,_ he was ogling him like a holo pinup, too, wasn’t he?!

  
Cody quickly swiped his hands a couple of times on the back in front of him to get the excess sunscreen off from between his fingers. Maybe the last pat was a bit too strong as Obi-Wan was forced to take a step forward to regain his balance, but as the Jedi turned, he was smiling, nevertheless.

  
Cody was really done for.

  
“Thank you very much, Cody. I do tend to burn up rather badly in the sun, so your help was greatly appreciated,” Obi-Wan told him, eyes twinkling. “Do you need me to-?” He indicated with the sunscreen bottle.

  
Thinking about Obi-Wan’s hands on him short-circuited his brain for a precious second but Cody regained his composure quickly.

  
“Ah. No thanks. I don’t burn. At all,” came the stilted reply. He shrugged, trying to be nonchalant. “It pays to be genetically modified, I guess.” And failing to be nonchalant.

  
Obi-Wan laughed. “Perfection is hard to come by in nature.” The man winked and turned to place his bottle on his clothes on the ground. He noticed his former Padawan and Ahsoka trying to dunk each other in the pink seawater and his attention was brought on the laughing and swimming vode all around him.

  
Cody had frozen. _Perf-?_

  
Slowly, he blinked. He took a deep breath. Held it. And let it out again. _I’m okay. This is fine,_ he repeated to himself.

  
He slapped his hands on the blacks he was wearing on the bottom half of his body and sprinted off towards the water. He probably stepped in Waxer and Boil’s sandcastle on the way if the shouts were anything to go by but he would deal with those consequences later. The water splashed against his legs as he reached the waterline and the waves lapped up his calves, knees, thighs, until he was submerged from the waist down. He dove under the water and let the world become muted.

Fives, Hardcase, Jesse and Echo, still standing some distance away, couldn’t help but notice how the moment Cody started running the General’s amused eyes never left his Commander’s figure.

  
“Was that a... lip bite?” Fives gasped.

  
“I kinda wish I had my bucket with me for some sweet, sweet holos,” Hardcase groaned. “This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to-“

  
A shadow fell over the troopers from behind and an aggressively friendly hand landed on Hardcase’s shoulder. “Opportunity to what? Exactly?”

  
Rex’s smile did not bring any relief to his _vode’s_ hearts.

  
“Uhh... Get blackmail material on the Marshal Commander?”

  
Rex raised his eyebrow. “Is that so?” This also did not bring any relief. Hardcase winced as his captain’s grip tightened a fraction. It was the sudden psychological pressure he felt he was being submitted to.

  
“Or not?”

  
“Or not,” Rex repeated. He let his _vod’s_ shoulder go, patted him once and sighed. “Leave the poor men alone. Cody’s got enough on his plate.” He smirked. “Go ogle your own general.”

  
“But he’s married!” exclaimed Fives.

  
Rex laughed. “And? You pretending that you’ve got a chance with Kenobi? You?”

  
“Hey!”

  
“He’s right, you know,” Echo agreed.

  
Fives pointed his finger in his face. “You’re not my brother. Traitor.”

  
“It is the matter of principle, really,” Jesse explained. “It’s not about us and him. Or him and us. It’s like... You go to a shop, you see a nice shirt, you think “Wow that’s an amazing shirt!”, but you wouldn’t want to actually wear the shirt or buy it.”

  
“Exactly!”

  
“You’ve never even been to a shop, Jesse. You don’t have any money,” Rex pointed out.

  
“Hence: matter of principle.”

  
The captain chuckled and rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah.” He grabbed Fives by the shoulders. “Let’s go build a sandcastle and show those wimps at the 212th what actual art looks like.”

  
Fives and Hardcase whooped, while Echo and Jesse dabbed.

* * *

  
  
Since there existed no Jedi-issue hats that could be distributed by the temple’s quartermaster, Obi-Wan had to find a spot of shade to cool his head. The intense warmth of the planet’s only sun was rather tiring for him. The heat made his limbs feel lethargic, his skin felt too hot, his hair and beard almost burning, and the soles of his bare feet could distinguish every grain of the scorching sand below. The muscles of his face were tired of squinting to shield his sensitive eyes from the bright light. A headache was building in his skull.

  
But this did not mean that Obi-Wan did not enjoy the warmth of the beach. It was truly a wonderful exchange from the perpetual cold of space that he always tried to stop from burrowing under his skin by wearing multiple layers of robes. Finally, he really could banish the chill completely. It was almost as if Light itself was trying to embrace him. It felt great to undress and not have to worry about his body temperature dropping. Obi-Wan felt simultaneously younger and older than he actually was – which, to be fair, meant that he felt right his actual age for a change.

  
The Jedi walked over to where some of the troopers had set up a unit for dispensing water and he grabbed a cup. The massive old beach umbrella that had probably been left there by previous vacationers some time before their arrival was already in use by some of the _vode_ looking to escape the sun, but there was still a little room left under the shadow.

  
“Good day, ladies,” Obi-Wan nodded to the two troopers sitting up with their feet buried deep in the sand, “gentlemen,” he nodded to the third who had planted himself face down in the sand and could not see the Jedi’s greeting but grunted in reply.

  
One of the women, the one with a swirling black tattoo on her chin, waved, sensing the relaxed atmosphere. “Sir,” she welcomed him, “come to hide away from the leering of the 501st?” She smirked and patted on the ground next to her, indicating a free spot in the shade.

  
Obi-Wan barked a laugh. “Just the leering of this one, I’m afraid.” He pointed his thumb in the sky, at the glowing yellow orb. The women laughed in turn. He carefully lowered himself next to the _vode,_ balancing his cup so that it wouldn’t spill.

  
Once on the ground, he looked once again at the third trooper in the sand and mouthed “ _Is he alright?_ ” in concern.

  
“Oh, he’s fine, sir,” the _vod_ with the long braid replied and smacked the guy’s thigh. He grunted once again. “He’s just not a friend of the-“ She pointed her thumb in the direction of the sky, imitating Obi-Wan.

  
“In that, I can sympathise,” the Jedi solemnly agreed with a dramatic sigh.

  
He and the two troopers from the 212th made small-talk for awhile and Obi-Wan let his gaze wander on the busy beach. Again his eyes easily found Anakin, whose hatred of sand was seemingly erased by the pink seawater, and Ahsoka, who had finally stopped trying dunk her Master’s head under said pink seawater. Anakin was doubtlessly imparting great wisdom on her Padawan as the young woman was balanced on his shoulders in an attempt to add height to one of the five spires of the Jedi Temple. The _vode_ of the 501st were busy carrying together sand to form the rest of the support structures of their entry to the Great Sand-Temple Build-Off Extraordinaire.

  
Some distance away, the _vode_ of the 212th had occupied themselves with the creation of a completely unique structure, much smaller, yet much more detailed, something that would have flawlessly fit into the landscape of a planet like Alderaan. Waxer and Boil were leading the forces on the construction of the arches and towers of the small city that was slowly being born under the loving craftsmanship of the troopers so used to holding only their blasters.

  
Obi-Wan could detect Cody among his _vode_ without difficulty, his signature so clear in the Force. The water droplets in his hair and on his body had not yet dried and Obi-Wan watched with interest how his back shifted as he was sentenced by the twins to dig a deep trench with his hands on the edge of 212th’s sand temple complex.

  
_Perhaps I should look away,_ Obi-Wan thought to himself.

  
Cody bent down deep in the canal, lifting himself up on his knees and bowing from the waist.

  
_Hmm, perhaps not._

  
Cody spread his knees more so he could have better balance and leverage as he dug.

  
Obi-Wan took a sharp sip from his cup of water. The sun really was hot today.

* * *

  
  
With some assistance, Cody eventually managed to lead the trench to the waterline and open the dam so that more water would flow in the canal with every wave that lapped the shore. Waxer was adding finishing touches to some of the rooftops, carefully balancing himself on his tiptoes since he didn’t want to accidentally step on any of the structures. Boil smoothed over his moustache with a deep expression of contemplation. Obi-Wan quietly approached him.

  
“Anything I can do to help?”

  
Boil set his contemplative eyes on him. “Something’s missing.”

  
Obi-Wan lifted his eyebrow.

  
“I’m not sure what it is,” the clone looked back at the sand temples, “but it’s like it’s... well... a bit dead. There’s no,” he waved his hand, “movement. No life.”

  
“Unfortunately, I don’t think I can do anything to help with that. Unless...” Obi-Wan eyed the trench and the little city. _Unless..._

  
He ran his idea by Boil who, in turn, waved over Waxer to get his input. The man tiptoed over the sand to them and heard the proposal. They both nodded.

  
“It’s worth a shot.”

  
“Yeah. Just.... If you feel like something’s about to collapse...” Waxer took a breath as if the very thought would be unbearable.

  
“I’ll stop. Don’t worry. I’ll be _very_ careful,” Obi-Wan reassured him with a smile.

  
He walked over to Cody, who was reinforcing the walls of the canal in some places, trying to get the water to flow faster, and put his hand on his bare shoulder. Cody startled. His head whipped up from where he had been bent over.

  
“Oh, it’s you.”

  
“Hello to you too, my dear Commander. Hard at work, I see.” Obi-Wan gave him a hand so he could lift himself off the sand.

  
“Well, if _someone_ had come to help us,” Cody grabbed his hand and pushed himself up, careful not to press on the edges of the trench, “maybe I wouldn’t still be here.” His eyes were soft and the slight smile on his face spoke of no hard feelings.

  
Obi-Wan didn’t let go of Cody’s hand just yet. He knew that if his companion didn’t want his touch, he would just let go, but Cody had no desire to break the contact so freely offered.

  
“I was never really any good with sand. It’s just a mass of individual parts that are all so tricky to control.” Obi-Wan turned them towards the sea, adding a hand to the small of Cody’s back, just above his blacks. “Fluid manipulation, on the other hand,” he glanced at Cody and smirked, “now _that_ I excelled at.”

  
He released Cody’s arm and lifted his hand in front of him. And then he pulled. The water from the sea streamed into the canal, slowly but surely enough not to disturb any of the _vode’s_ handwork.

  
“Top of the class, I’m sure.” Cody felt slightly breathless.

  
The Jedi smirked and patted his arm. “Come.”

  
He led them a couple of steps closer to the sand temple complex. Removing his touch from Cody’s back, Obi-Wan kneeled on the ground and closed his eyes in concentration. He opened his mind to the Force in order to sense the intricacies of the world around him, from the smallest grain of sand to the steady flow of the water, reaching out with his feelings and grasping the energy that directs the flow. With a slight nudge he directed a small stream inside the wall of the canal and created a small pressurized path for it in the sand. He broke the stream into two, then three, directing them all to the surface. Small springs burst around the carefully crafted temples of sand, bringing to life the fragile sculpted fountains. The water that rushed from them was immediately swallowed back up by the sand but the pressure did not let the springs dry.

  
“I know it’s not much, but it’s the best I can do,” Obi-Wan chuckled. “But waterwork like this is really an intricate business, I must say.” The Jedi opened his eyes to look at his handiwork and shrugged. “Master Yoda would call this a frivolous use of the Force but,” he glanced up at Cody again and winked, “I hope I’m forgiven.”

  
This time Cody reached out his hand for the Jedi to take. “The 212th is grateful for your talents.”

  
Obi-Wan grabbed his forearm and pulled himself up against the shorter man, holding on to his bicep with his other hand. “I _am_ part of the 212th, you know,” he exclaimed with fake indignation.

  
Cody took in the freckled face so close to his own. Involuntarily, and quite naturally really, he let his gaze drop to the other man’s lips for a second and then looked up into his blue eyes. “That you are,” Cody smirked, “Obi-Wan.”

  
Obi-Wan was sure that he would never tire hearing Cody say his first name. The particular intimacy and vulnerability that came with it took his breath away; he was infinitely glad to have been allowed this mutual unbreakable trust with his Commander... _no..._ with Cody. This trust that he could feel beating like a heart in the Force, that made him gaze into the man’s dark eyes and see his _beskar_ resolve, conviction and passion, his gentle soul that burns with a warm fire, his care for his _vode,_ his duty and the good of others. Obi-Wan couldn’t help but love him, really. There was nothing to be done about it. Every time Cody had picked up his lightsaber on the battlefield, he had also held his life in his hands, and every time he had reached out to return the sword, a piece of Obi-Wan’s heart was left behind in the steady hands of his Commander. And something that might have been a tragedy in another world felt more like a blessing in this one. It felt good to love. The Force itself loved love, if the way it warmed and lightened with the feeling was any indication.

  
He caressed his thumb over the bicep he was still holding. “Cody,” Obi-Wan replied.

  
Another spark in the Force. _Ah._

  
_Love._

  
Obi-Wan thought he just might have kissed the man right there if they hadn’t been surrounded by all the troopers leaning to take a look at his work on the sand temple complex. He smiled at Cody, mischievously, with no regret, and stepped to the side to let Waxer and Boil get a better look at the waterworks and give their approval.

  
He didn’t release his hold on Cody’s arm, however; and neither did Cody let go of his waist. It just felt good and they didn’t feel the need to deprive themselves of the joy.

  
“I do think this is my best work yet,” Obi-Wan said while running his free hand over his beard.

  
Cody chuckled. “Better than the time you pulled a ton of rocks on those droids on Ryloth?”

  
“And ruined a perfectly good canyon? Certainly.”

  
“I guess it is nice to not have to blast something for a change,” Cody mused.

  
“Tackling droids was more suited to your tastes anyway, my dear.”

  
Cody sent a dirty look to Obi-Wan but he couldn’t fake the scorn for long. He rubbed his hand over the small of his back, which translated to a tingling sensation on Obi-Wan’s skin.

  
The Jedi grinned and turned to the twins in charge, asking if the work was suitable for them.

  
“It’ll do,” Boil replied, ever the perfectionist.

* * *

  
  
“I regret to inform you, boys, that you’ve officially lost your chances with the amazing shirt in the shop that you couldn’t buy anyway, because turns out that _someone_ actually had the credits for it.”

  
“That’s funny, _vod,”_ Fives grumbled as he was shaping the stairs to the Jedi Temple of Corusand. “Really funny.”

  
Rex smirked, looking at his _ori’vod_ and General Kenobi getting cosy with each other. “I think you can comfort yourself with the idea that you’ve still got a chance if it’s Cody’s looks he’s after.”

  
Fives’ eyes snapped up at them. “Kriff, that bastard really went for it!” He laughed. “Good for him!” He slapped Echo’s arm and pointed, drawing his brother’s attention to the couple. Echo nodded in acknowledgement.

  
Rex massaged his jaw in fake contemplation. “You know, Fives. I think Tera Sinube is still single. Think we could set up a meeting for you two-?“ Echo’s loud snort was muffled by Fives’ yell of indignation as he tackled Rex to the ground, the blonde’s head landing half a metre away from the corner of the sand temple.

  
Several voices cried out in unison.

  
“Not next to the Temple, you _or’diniise_!!”

  
“ _Usen’ye_!!”

  
“ _Copaani mirshmure’cya!?_ ”

  
Echo was now fully laughing at both the wrestling pair in the sand and the offended _vode_ desperately trying to get them to move away from their hard work. “ _Gar mirshe solus, vode._ ”

* * *

  
  
Cody and Obi-Wan turned to look at the commotion by the 501st’s sand construction and witnessed the moment when an angry Tup attempted to intervene in Fives and Rex’s fight, only to receive an accidental kick to the stomach. Time moved in slow-motion as everybody reached out to try and stop the inevitable.

  
Tup’s body was pushed into the outer wall of the Jedi Temple, the sand crumbling under his weight. The Tower of First Knowledge fell as the supporting structure collapsed, flinging pieces of damp sand all over the place. The other four towers were hit by the flying missiles and tumbled, bringing down the entire building along with them. The detailed sculptures that Dogma had been carving, the stairs, even the auxiliary buildings were all crushed under the mass of sand that rained down. Echo managed to grab Tup’s hand and pull them up before they were buried underneath the destruction but there was no saving the Temple. It was gone.

  
A beat of silence hit. Rex and Fives looked at the carnage in horror. Tup’s chest was heaving with growing panic. Dogma looked devastated. Some of the _vode_ grabbed onto each other for support. Ahsoka’s mouth was gaping, hands spread wide in disbelief.

  
“Noooooooo!!!” Anakin dropped to his knees and screamed.

  
Obi-Wan covered his mouth with his hand. In shock or to hide his laughing, Cody wasn’t sure. He felt sincerely sorry for the 501st’s loss but he also knew what this meant.

  
“212TH TAKES THE VICTORY!!” Cody shouted and punched his fist in the air.

  
“ _OYA_!” echoed the roar of the _vode._

* * *

  
  
The planet was moving along in its rotation and soon the sun began to set behind the horizon, casting a glow of dark orange over the pink water. The air was quickly cooling as the daylight faded. Obi-Wan and Cody had been sitting in the sand, chatting with their companions as the _vode_ relaxed after running around on the beach all afternoon. Cody could feel a sense of accomplishment at seeing his siblings so carefree and calm, free of anxieties and fears, not having to worry about anything in the world just now. Some of the troopers had been handing out toast that everyone could snack on, the others were attempting to light fires on the sand with the wood they had gathered from the nearby bush of trees. Obi-Wan quietly let his head lightly fall on Cody’s shoulder for support, their arms pressed together. The Jedi closed his eyes in tired contentment and breathed in the smell of fresh seawater, warm bread, the faded smoke of the campfires and Cody’s skin. He let the chatter fall to the background, like the waves of the ocean, focusing on his breath going in and out of his lungs and the warmth of the body by his side. The rumble by his ear as Cody spoke to his friends comforted him.

  
So maybe he had been a bit touch-starved as of late? Who could blame him.

  
“Obi-Wan?” He could hear the reverberation of his name against his ear.

  
“Hm?”

  
“Tired?”

  
Obi-Wan slowly blinked and carefully removed his head from the other man’s shoulder to look at his face. “Hm yes,” He smiled wryly, “I suppose so.” The warmth of the day had set in his bones, erased all restlessness . He felt almost... serene. Like he was ready for a good night’s rest, a long rejuvenating slumber that would leave him more alive than he had been in the last three years.

  
Cody touched the top his head. “You’re warm.”

  
“I’m okay, don’t worry.”

  
“Have you had water?”

  
Obi-Wan let out a laugh. “Yes, Marshal Commander. Don’t worry,” he stressed.

  
“Alright.” Cody took his hand from the Jedi’s head. His eyes moved back to the people in front of him, leaving Obi-Wan to admire the man’s profile, faced with the waves of feelings he had for him.

  
“Let me take care of you for a change, Cody,” Obi-Wan’s voice was suddenly laced with an edge of desperation.

  
Cody’s gaze snapped back to him.

  
Before he could say anything, Obi-Wan continued quietly: “I don’t, of course, mean to imply that you can’t take care of yourself. But you know you can rely on me for anything, right? I-“ he stopped. “If you asked me to do something for you, I would. Anything.” The heaviness of his utterance could be sensed from the air around them.

  
Cody blinked. The serious look in the man’s eyes told him that this was not something that he could brush off casually. He pressed his lips together and looked back towards the _vode_ around them. Then he looked back at Obi-Wan, who was still eyeing him intently. Cody sighed and pressed his palms in the sand to push himself up. He rose and reached down his arm for Obi-Wan to pull himself up, as well.

  
“I’m not having this conversation here.”

  
The _vode_ looked at the couple curiously. Obi-Wan suddenly regretted his words quite intensely as anxiety struck him. But he accepted the consequences of his actions and the offered arm, pulling himself up from the ground.

  
“We’re going back to the ship,” the Commander spoke to his siblings, still holding Obi-Wan’s hand in his grip. “Boil, you have my comm.” He pointed at his brother. “If anything happens, let me know.”

  
“Aye, sir.”

  
Despite his own slowly spiralling thoughts, the Jedi pulled up a smile for his troopers. “Goodnight, everyone. I’ll see you all bright and early tomorrow. And no sand in the barracks!” he joked, though he sensed that he couldn’t quite convince Cody of this light mood as the man caressed his thumb gently over the back of his hand. The _vode_ waved and echoed his goodbye, some even winked.

  
After grabbing Obi-Wan’s clothes, they walked further away from the waterline, passing the group of 501st troopers who were sitting with Anakin and Ahsoka around a campfire. Rex and Fives were buried in thick mountains of sand with only their heads poking out from the top and the young togruta was feeding the Captain bits of toast, avoiding the sharp bite of his teeth. Fives was the first to notice them passing.

  
“Hey, hey! General! Commander!” He wiggled in his sand prison. “A little help!?”

  
Obi-Wan managed to smile at the trooper’s plight. “I’m afraid my hands are tied, Fives. There is nothing I can do.”

  
“Surely this is in violation of some code! This is an unlawful torture of civilians!”

  
Kix stuffed a toast in the _vod’s_ mouth. “You’re not a civilian, _di’kut._ ” Fives’ complaints were muffled by the food. Rex, whose burning glare was directed at the campfire, was ominously munching on his bread.

  
Anakin raised his glance. “You going back to the ship already?”

  
“It’s late,” Cody answered in agreement. Someone wolf-whistled. Obi-Wan, ignoring the implication, nodded and wished them all goodnight.

  
As they were some distance away from the troopers, a sudden cacophony of shouts was heard from behind them. Cody looked over his shoulder to see what the commotion was about, only to witness Rex breaking out of the prison of sand and launching himself against the sudden opposition. The loud laughing assured him that all was well as the fight to death commenced with Rex knocking down three of his siblings in one strike. Cody was proud of his _vod’ika._

* * *

  
  
They agreed to meet again in Cody’s quarters on The Negotiator after they had both managed to remove any sand they may be hiding and cleaned themselves in the refresher. Obi-Wan was going through some breathing exercises as he chose a clean set of robes to don for the conversation he was about to face. He might have regretted his sudden declaration on the beach but he knew that a proper conversation between him and Cody was necessary. They had always clicked together rather smoothly, both on and off battlefield, but this particular situation required more conscious negotiating and acknowledgement. Rationally knowing this did not stop him from having that lump of anxiety in his throat.

  
Obi-Wan hated it. He hated the fear that sometimes reared its ugly head, the doubt. However, neither the fear or the hate of it had ever brought him any benefit; rather the opposite: it tended to cloud both his judgement, rationality, and also his own true feelings. Centring on his anxieties could lead to him making brash decisions motivated by fear, not on what was the best or what he actually wanted. So he breathed in, imagining his head full of small dust that lifted from the surface with a gust of wind, and breathed out, sweeping away the dust in the breeze. He repeated the action until he felt the sharp tension in his shoulders leave, being replaced by equilibrium.

  
_Come what may, it has not come yet_. Obi-Wan focused on the present, took his lightsaber from his nightstand and attached it to his belt. He brushed his hand through his hair, smoothing it back, and straightened his tabards.

  
His commander’s room was only a few doors down from his own so it only took Obi-Wan a minute to move from his own quarters to Cody’s door. He knocked without hesitation and opened the door after hearing the affirmative call.

  
Cody was sitting on the bed by the left wall of the room, dressed to his neck in clean blacks. He was cleaning his gold and white armour, the pieces lying on the table at the back of the small cabin – they had never been as polished during the war as they were now that the fighting was over. As the door slid open, the man looked up from his pauldron and rag to take in Obi-Wan’s form, standing with his feet slightly apart, one hand by his side, the other leaning on the doorframe. The secure layers of robes were back in their usual place, covering the lean body of the Jedi. Obi-Wan did not look as relaxed as he had on the beach before but, despite his otherwise carefully put together appearance, some of the remaining ease was still there in his face. One could not entirely perceive the man as the High General of the GAR with his cheeks and nose tinged red from the exposure to the sun, which could almost be mistaken for a blush.

  
“Obi-Wan,” Cody greeted him, fully aware that his voice could not hide his fondness for the name, and the man.

  
The Jedi stepped in the room, closing the door behind him, cutting off the brightness of the hallway, leaving the only light in the room the lamp on the Commander’s desk. Cody placed the things in his hands on the table and, having freed his hands, patted on the bed beside him.

  
“Come on, sit down. I don’t want to get a crick in my neck looking up at you.”

  
Obi-Wan smiled. His clothes rustled quietly as he sat next to the other man.

  
There was a pause of silence. Obi-Wan didn’t quite know where to start. Cody did.

  
“You said you would do anything for me, if I asked.”

  
Obi-Wan breathed out. “I did.”

  
Cody turned to face him on the bed. “Then do this.” He carefully took one of Obi-Wan’s hands from his knee and held it between his hands, feeling the rough calluses on the palm and the fingertips. “Trust me.”

  
Obi-Wan looked him in the eyes.

  
“Trust me to not ask you the things you are afraid of offering. Trust me to not ask you to make those sacrifices. But also trust me to let you know what I want. Trust me to make my own decisions. Trust me to live my life how I want to.” He pressed his hands firmly against Obi-Wan’s as he paused for a breath. “Trust me to be by your side.”

  
Placing his other hand on top of Cody’s, the Jedi shifted himself closer to the other man. He pressed his forehead against his and breathed in the warm breath that they shared. “Cody,” Obi-Wan whispered, “trusting you is the easiest thing in the world.”

  
The corner of Cody's mouth turned up. “Then trust yourself to know what is right.”

  
The blues of Obi-Wan's eyes flashed through his lashes, his nose brushed against Cody's. _I trust you with my life_ went without saying. This had been the lived reality for them for the last three years. _I trust you with my soul_ – this is what Cody was offering now and Obi-Wan was all too happy to let himself believe in the possibility of love, to place his confidence in the strength of their combined faith in each other. Obi-Wan knew Cody – as well as any man could. And Cody, in turn, was able to look right through Obi-Wan; he understood the motivations that guided his life. They both recognized in each other the duty that drove them forward. If anything could come between them, it was their unwavering loyalty to their cause, but fortunately, right now, their objectives lay in the same direction. And Cody was right, of course. Their relationship did not depend on them making grand vows and promises, being trapped by the weight of their commitment to each other that would keep pulling them in the direction that neither of them wanted to go. Everything depended on just one thing: being able to trust each other to do the right thing.

  
“Well... I'll do my best.” Obi-Wan smiled.

  
“I know you will. I’ll guarantee it.”

  
Cody took one of his hands from underneath Obi-Wan's and slid it in his hair, pulling their heads more firmly against each other, the grounding pressure of the _mirshmure’cya_ connecting them. Obi-Wan's gaze flicked up from their hands for a second to look into the steady brown eyes so close to him.

  
“Can I kiss you?”

  
“Yeah,” Cody laughed, breathless. “Though, technically, I think we already a-”

  
Obi-Wan pressed his mouth to Cody's, one hand moving to circle his waist, the other gently grabbing his neck. Having closed his mouth at the contact, Cody tilted his head so that the sides of their noses brushed against each other as their mouths moved, looking to close the very last bit of distance between them. Obi-Wan's lips were slightly dry, which was soon forgotten by the Commander as a soft wet tongue brushed against his lower lip. _Oh? That's nice._

  
“Hmm... Obi-Wan,” Cody murmured against his lips, continuing to caress them with his own, tightening his embrace. “I think there's some sand in your hair.”

**Author's Note:**

> I joked [on tumblr](https://kuldrenett.tumblr.com/) (come send me questions or headcanons or just say hi!) that I wanted to incorporate an essay about the moral decline of the jedi order during the clone wars in this fic as this AU will see how the order gets back on its feet again. And I had actually already written like 700 words of that essay until i slapped my fingers and said "wtf are u doing?" to myself.
> 
> [But here's what I wrote about it: ](https://kuldrenett.tumblr.com/post/640853677239877632/queerangelic-not-only-that-because-obviously)  
> Part 2 [of this fic] is just the Jedi High Council receiving the copy of an essay that a youngling wrote for their Force Philosophy homework that lists how the Jedi Order no longer follows their code, how they committed war crimes, enforced slavery and made children fight in a war, as well as allowed a corrupt government to turn people's lives into their political tug of war.  
> It points out how the Jedi let themselves be manipulated in this galactic game aimed to destroy the very foundations on which the Order lay. "The Clone Wars were the perfect Jedi trap. By fighting at all, the Jedi lost." (Stover 2005).  
> In the conclusion of the essay the youngling suggests that in order to improve the situation, all privileges that the Jedi Order has must be revoked, the Jedi must remove themselves from the institution of the Galactic Republic and they will receive no financial support from the Senate.  
> The Council realizes that these suggestions are actually not to punish the Order but to ensure that the Republic would never have the power to put the Jedi in that position ever again. They assign a committee, lead by Adi Gallia, that starts immediately dealing with the different contingency plans necessary to make the Order into an independent religious organization. Plo Koon, in unison with the Temple Healers, will see to it that all the Jedi who fought on the frontlines will go see a damn Mind Healer and re-attend obligatory Force Philosophy classes.  
> Obi-Wan volunteers to ensure that the Jedi Order provides all possible reparations to the clone troopers and he's ready to direct his powers of negotiation towards the Senate so that they pull through with their reparations. Everyone agrees that he's motivated enough to do it since the entire 212th, who is currently bunked in the Temple together with everyone else because they didn't really have anywhere to go, took Obi-Wan and Cody's invitation to "drop by our quarters anytime! You're always welcome!" too liberally and now the two can't even get a moment of peace together since there is always someone raiding their kitchen or using their refresher because "damn, your shampoo smells so much better than ours", despite it being, in fact, the same shampoo that everyone in the Temple uses.
> 
> @queerangelic replied: Anakin gets to go to therappyyyyy
> 
> Not only that (because obviously Anakin will finally get some therapy) but Bail Organa personally gifts Padme and Anakin a family voucher for the Galaxy’s Best Exotic Spa Planet after the petition for the inclusion of the clones in the Convention of Civilized Systems goes through in the Senate. After a relaxing fortnight with his wife and children in the spa and then spending even more time on Naboo, Anakin decides to finally officially leave the Order with promises of monthly dinner parties and weekly sessions with the Temple Mind Healers. Also the babies love hanging out with other Jedi crechelings and Anakin can’t help but indulge them so he’s basically always there anyway.  
> He decides to join Sabé in her (secret Padmé-sanctioned) mission together with some vode from the 501st to build up safe networks to liberate slaves in the Outer Rim planets. And when he’s not currently doing that he’s either being a stay-at-home dad, spoiling his kids rotten, or participating in podracing competitions (they tried to get him disqualified at first bc everyone knew he used to be a Jedi but then his wife diplomatically pointed out that besalisks have four arms yet they are not disqualified due to that advantage, so Anakin was allowed to participate – apart from the two months he was banned from racing bc his self-made podracer exploded in the referee’s face). He’s become quite a celebrity among the pod-heads.


End file.
